


Time for Me To Fly

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Series: YOI Prompts Weekly [26]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Fairy Tales, Flying Gardens, M/M, One-Sided Phichuuri, Pegasus - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 04:44:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14301084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: After watching the man he loved marry someone else, Phichit goes for a flight to clear his head.  Otabek tags along, and Phichit gives him a kick in the ass to not end up in Phichit's shoes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for YOI Spring Fling Day 4: Fairytales
> 
> Written for YOI Prompts Weekly 3/11  
> Pairing: Otabek Altin/Phichit Chulanont  
> Prompts:  
>  **“Where am I going? Crazy. Wanna come?”**  
>  _Mile high club_  
>  _Friend’s house_  
>  **Sorrowful**  
>  **Fantasy**

Phichit was never one for staying down long, and even when he was down, very few people ever noticed. At his best friend’s wedding, Phichit stood beside Yuuri and heard him pledge himself to Viktor, the prince who had come and swept him off his feet after a chance meeting at a ball. Which was all very good and well, it was a proper storybook story, so Phichit hid the unrequited love and smiled and told the embarrassing stories he was supposed to tell and hugged his friend and wished him happily ever after and his best life.

Then he hopped on a pegasus. He wasn’t expecting to be caught, let alone by Otabek Altin. “Phichit? Where are you going?”

“Where am I going?” Phichit thought it over. He hadn’t actually planned that far ahead. He just wanted to get away from there before the consummation. May as well confess to that. “Crazy! Wanna come?”

“Not really.” Otabek got on a pegasus as well. “I assume you know the way, so lead on.”

Phichit tilted his head, but turned his pegasus toward the open road. “But… if you don’t wanna come…”

Otabek just shrugged and followed him to the road. “Someone has to keep you from getting so lost in crazy you can’t find your way back, and I’m already here.”

“Oh. Well, try to keep up, then.” Phichit’s pegasus took off trotting, then galloping, and then flying. He and Otabek soared through the night sky, looking down at the islands below them. It was beautiful, and Phichit could feel his sorrow drifting away.

He turned his pegasus upward, flying toward a legend Yuuri had told him about once. Supposedly, there was a flying garden above Hasetsu. Yuuri didn’t know who planted it or maintained it, or why it was there, but he swore it was and that he’d visited many times when he lived in Hasetsu. If it was true, then it would probably be starting to bloom, and Phichit wanted to see it. The pegasus seemed to understand his intent, as she began climbing steadily. Phichit glanced over at Otabek, who was looking a little green at this point. He pointed to the patch of dark he now saw against the sky.

When they arrived, Phichit was immediately amazed. This was no hesitant springtime first bloom, this was a brilliant mess of flowers. So many colors and scents all at once nearly overwhelmed him, and he finally broke into his first unforced smile of the day. “Look at this, Otabek, isn’t this amazing?”

“Not really.” Otabek didn’t flinch under Phichit’s glare. “I’m from Almaty. We’ve got quite a few of these. Would’ve thought they’d be common in Thailand.”

“Nope. None, that I know of. I’ve only ever heard about them, and being here… well. Today didn’t suck as much as it could have, and Yuuri was meant for Viktor. They’re going to be so happy together.”

“Probably. I hope so.” Otabek slid off his pegasus and walked over to a tree, burying his face in its flowers. “I hope when it’s my turn to be in your shoes, I can do it half as gracefully as you did.”

“What are you talking about? You’re not gonna be in my shoes, Otabek.” Phichit slid off his pegasus and joined Otabek at the tree.

“Not anytime soon, at least, but eventually, Yura’s going to fall in love with someone. He’s a prince, like Viktor; he’s going to have his fairytale love story.”

Phichit reached out and smacked Otabek’s head. “You’re a dumbass.”

“Exactly. Dumbasses don’t get fairy tales.”

“Once upon a time, there was a boy. He wasn’t the most gifted of boys, just an ordinary boy in many ways, but what set him apart from the common folk was his determination and his strength. One day, in a class that pushed him beyond his abilities, his eyes caught on a prince. This was no ordinary prince; this was a prince in whom the boy could see his own strength and determination staring back out at him. This made the boy’s determination even sharper, as he forged his own path to becoming a hero of his people.”

Otabek rolled his eyes. “I know this is about me and Yuri, Phichit. It’s not subtle. It’s also not going to have a fairytale ending.”

Phichit ignored the doubts. “Years later, the boy grew into a man, and the man came across the prince in trouble. Despite his own doubts about his worthiness, he called out to the prince and offered him a rescue. The prince accepted, and the two became friends. From the moment their hands touched, the two were inseparable, and everyone around them could see their love for each other growing stronger every day.”

“That’s called friendship, Phichit, I’d have thought you’d know all about that.”

“Though the hero was determined, he wasn’t always the best at realizing the obvious. The prince was young, and also somewhat rough around the edges, so he wasn’t much better. The two of them swore to their friends and families that they were friends, but that was it – despite everyone around them recognizing that the two of them were clearly meant for each other. They just had to reach out for their own happiness.”

Otabek stared at Phichit, hope doing its best to fight its way into his eyes. “So tell me, how does this fairy tale end?”

Phichit shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re the one who has to tell me the ending. Are you going to let it reach the ending?”

Otabek picked a sprig of blossoms from the tree. “Fairytales don’t always have a happy ending, you know.”

“I know. Even if they’re happy for some of the people, they’re not happy for all of them.” Phichit hugged Otabek. “I have faith in this one, though. You and Yuri love each other. In the happily-ever-after way that Yuuri could never have loved me. You just need to have the courage to say something to him, and isn’t courage and strength and all that the stuff that made you the Hero of Kazakhstan?”

“What about you?”

Phichit shrugged. “You know me. I’m a pretty happy guy most of the time, and coming up here has helped put this in perspective. Maybe after this, I’ll be able to start my own fairy tale.”


	2. Happily Ever After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phichit's fairytale ending. Because I couldn't just leave him like that. <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for YOI Spring Fling Day 3 - Folklore/Mythology

When fairytales come true, there are always people left behind. Otabek had left the floating garden early to talk to Yuri, leaving Phichit among the flowers alone. Phichit flopped into a bed of brightly-colored flowers, letting their heady scent surround him and make him happy. He didn’t mean to fall asleep, but he did.

His dreams were a confusing jumble. Nothing new there. Lots of hamsters and sunshine and happiness, which was typical, but this time, there was a shadowy figure standing beside him the whole time. He couldn’t ever see a face, or make out any kind of details, but he knew it was his own prince come to give him his fairytale ending.

Yuuri had told him the legends of these floating gardens many times. They were a place of great joy and happiness, and a place of magic. Folklore said that they could help you find your dreams, either by guiding you to what they were, or by showing you how to make them come true. If there was anything to that, then with any luck, that meant Phichit just needed to stay here long enough to figure out who the prince in his dreams was.

If it was a prince. It didn’t have to be. Phichit wasn’t the prince-marrying sort anyway. As a supporting character himself, he would likely end up with his story pairing him with another support character. He’d have thought Viktor’s best friend, Christophe, except that Christophe had already found his happy ending in a childhood sweetheart who rode back into his life unexpectedly one day. Who else? Mari? Unlikely. For one thing, Mari was ten years older than him, for another, she was perfectly happy with her single life and didn’t want to get caught up in a fairy tale, and for a third, one of the few things he could tell about the dude in his dream was that it was a dude. Mari, not so much.

Seung Gil would have been a much stronger possibility if he were at the wedding. Seung Gil was a hero, but not the kind who starred in the story. He was the foil, the one who did the boring work so the starring heroes could take the glory and win the princess. Or prince. Or whatever. As a partner for the plucky sidekick, it wasn’t a bad choice, he just… wasn’t around.

Who was? Emil? Minami? Leo or Guang Hong would work, except that Phichit was pretty sure they were eventually going to have their own fairy tale. Phichit would rather not have a fairy tale than have to deal with a Crispino or JJ, not that JJ was even there.

The sound of footsteps caused Phichit to open his eyes. When he looked up, Celestino was crouched beside him. “Looks like you found a good spot for a nap. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m great. What are you doing up here?”

“Looking for you.” Celestino got to his feet and held out a hand. “Yuuri kind of freaked out when he couldn’t find you this morning. Otabek told us the two of you came up here, but he’s rather busy today, so I came up to check on you.”

Phichit took Celestino’s hand and let his mentor haul him up. “I’m fine. Just needed to get away and clear my head a bit. It worked, and then I fell asleep.”

“Good. Glad to hear that. Come on, Yuuri will never forgive you if you aren’t there to say goodbye before he and Viktor take off.” Celestino led Phichit back to the edge of the garden, where they arrived just in time to watch Phichit’s pegasus fly off without him.

Phichit whistled, but the pegasus didn’t turn around. “Well. This is annoying. Think you can catch her and make her come back?”

“Maybe, or I could just take you with me. The faster you decide, the less chance there is of it getting decided for you.”

“I’ll go back with you, sure. Less dangerous for you that way.” Celestino climbed on the remaining pegasus, helping Phichit climb up in front of him. About halfway down, Phichit realized what was happening. His mentor had come to find him, rescued him from trouble with his friends and kept him from getting stuck on the floating garden. It was a proper fairy tale rescue, of the sort that a character like him got. Celestino fit the shadowy figure in his dream, too.

He leaned back, and Celestino let go of the reins with one hand to wrap his arm around Phichit. “You feel it too, huh?”

“Yeah. I do. Unexpected, isn’t it?”

“It is. Certainly not complaining, though. I’m just sorry you had to go through everything with Yuuri before you could get here.”

“Don’t be. Character development and suffering is necessary, right? Gotta earn the happily ever after.”


End file.
